Brief #20 July 2018

International

Brief #20 July 2018

08 / 13 / 2018

Council of Europe

On 5 July, the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO), the anti-corruption body of the Council of Europe, published its second compliance report for Slovenia, in the framework of its fourth round of evaluation on corruption prevention for members of Parliament, judges and prosecutors. Fourteen out of the nineteen recommendations addressed in the evaluation report were implemented in a satisfactory manner. As far as parliamentarians are concerned, the Group stated that “limited” progress was achieved in the two chambers of the country on preventing conflicts of interests and corruption.

On 5 July, GRECO made public the interim compliance report of its fourth evaluation round for Ireland. It appears that the State correctly implemented three out of the eleven recommendations of the first report. If GRECO welcomed the discussion of a bill extending the declarative obligations for parliamentarians, the group estimated that their training on ethical issues should be improved.

On 12 July, GRECO published the second compliance report for Albania in the framework of its fourth evaluation round. Four out of the ten initial recommendations were implemented in a satisfactory manner, the others six being partly implemented. GRECO notably welcomed the adoption of a code of conduct for members of Parliament, aiming to prevent conflicts of interests and regulate secondary activities and gifts.

European Union

On 2 July, the Bureau of the European Parliament rejected several measures aiming to enhance transparency on the use of the general expenditure allowance of the Members of Parliament. They would have notably made it compulsory for them to keep expense statements and introduced audits on its use. However, the MEPs must henceforth receive the allowance on a separate bank account.

On 10 July, Transparency International EU published a report on MEPs’ outside jobs. About a third of them carry out professional activities in addition to their mandate, generating between 18 and 41 million euros of incomes. The average is higher among the Euroskeptical parliamentarians. Belgian, Austrian, Danish and French MEPs are the most involved. In its report, the non-governmental organization notably recommended to prevent MEPs from being lobbyists.

African Union

From 1 to 2 July, the 31stsummit of the African Union took place in Nouakchott. Gathering about 40 delegations of African States, and attended by French President Emmanuel Macron, this event was dedicated to the fight against corruption on the continent. Interviewed by RFI, a participant regretted the absence of “firm commitments” on this matter.

Open Government Partnership

Between 17 and 19 July, Georgia welcomed the 5th global summit of the Open Government Partnership. Citizen engagement, fight against corruption and transparency in public action were at the heart of the discussions which involved members of national administrations, international organizations and actors from civil society from 96 countries.